Iran sentences two youths to death over 2022 protests, rights group says

Two young men have been sentenced to death for involvement in the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement, Norway-based rights group Hengaw said on Monday.

Mohammad Darvish Narouei, 22, and Yasin Kebdani, 21, were convicted by a court in Zahedan in southeastern Iran of “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth,” the rights group reported, adding they face imminent execution if the sentences are upheld.

A third detainee, Benyamin Kouhkan, who was 16 at the time of his arrest, has also been tried and placed in solitary confinement with his verdict pending.

All three were tortured and denied access to legal counsel, the group said.

Separately on Monday, Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported that two other Baloch political prisoners, Farhad Baranzahi, 24, and Omran Aghal, 22, have been sentenced to death in Zahedan on charges of "membership in armed opposition groups."

Both men were allegedly tortured into confessing and remain held in Zahedan Central Prison, according to IHR.

Last month, five men detained in connection with 2022 protests in Iran were sentenced to death by a court in the city of Urmia, according to France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).

The unrest was sparked by the death in morality police custody of a young woman, Mahsa Amini. Protests were quashed with deadly force.

At least eleven protesters have been executed in Iran in connection with the 2022 uprising, with the most recent execution carried out in June.

On June 11, Iranian authorities executed Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkour, who was detained in connection with the November 2022 protests in the southwestern city of Izeh.

Among those previously executed are Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Mohsen Shekari, and Majidreza Rahnavard, all sentenced on similar charges.

Last week, the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights reported on that at least 730 people have been executed in Iranian prisons over the past seven months, including 102 in July alone.

‘Buy now, pay later’ culture spreads to Iran’s corner shops due to cash crunch

Aug 4, 2025, 12:46 GMT+1

As inflation continues to erode household incomes in Iran, a growing number of corner shops and grocery vendors across the country are quietly reviving an old tradition: the ledger-based, buy-now-pay-later system, Iranian daily Etemad wrote on Monday.

Once limited to big-ticket items like furniture or electronics, installment purchases are now being used to pay for daily essentials, from fruit and rice to detergent and chicken.

According to Etemad, field reports from Tehran and other cities suggest that even small neighborhood grocers and butchers are offering informal credit lines to loyal customers, often without collateral, checks, or formal agreements — simply on trust.

“They come every week and settle their bills at the start of the month, once salaries come in,” said one Tehran shopkeeper. “It’s like an installment plan — just between us.”

Strain breeds new norms

The practice, known locally as “hesab-daftari” (ledger credit), is expanding rapidly amid what economists describe as a deepening period of stagflation — a toxic mix of high inflation and economic stagnation. The article says the shift reflects a broader trend: the normalization of debt as a tool for day-to-day survival.

“In the past, installment buying was for luxury goods,” Etemad cited Ahmad Janjan, an economist based in Tehran. “Now it’s a way to afford bread and shampoo.”

He added that this shift is driven primarily by falling real wages, lack of liquid savings, and the rising cost of living.

From credit apps to corner stores

While fintech platforms like Digikala and Snapp Pay – Iran's top online markets -- have introduced digital installment options with slogans such as “no check, no guarantor,” it is the informal, person-to-person credit that is becoming more prevalent.

Some meat shops now allow buyers to split payments for poultry and beef. In produce markets, fruit vendors maintain handwritten tabs for repeat customers. Others offer agreements on mutual trust, sometimes in exchange for steady patronage.

'Buy now, pay more'

But not everyone is embracing this development as a lifeline.

“The shirt I bought online cost me 1,500,000 rials (about $2) more than in the store,” one customer wrote on social media. “But the store wouldn’t sell in installments. I had no choice.”

Others raised concerns about hidden fees and rising consumer debt. “This isn’t just delayed payment,” another user commented. “It’s disguised interest — and it adds up.”

Etemad cited Iranian economists as warning that while installment buying can temporarily soften financial blows, it also carries long-term risks in the absence of consumer protections or reliable credit scoring systems.

“There are no unified regulations on this,” said Janjan. “People may end up with debt they can’t service, all for everyday necessities.”

The growing reliance on credit is also changing spending behavior. Morteza Afghah, another economist, told the daily, “You get what you need today, but repayment obligations can pile up and strain households even more.”

Afghah links the trend to "deep-rooted structural issues, including political instability, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and unstable regulation — all of which raise production costs and feed into the country’s chronic inflation."

He warned that installment-based purchases are becoming more diverse fast, attributing the trend to what he called "stagflation."

“We are not only facing inflation and recession at the same time, but their combination — stagflation — has become a chronic condition in Iran’s economy, making it more difficult and time-consuming to address.”